# If president, would you handle social media yourself personally (Tweeting, etc)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350 "2019-08-08T14:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/1 "2019-08-08T14:52:56Z")
Suppose you were President, and you were an avid user of Twitter, like Trump. Would you continue writing your own Twitter/Facebook and other such posts yourself, or quit it (or delegate the Tweeting duties to your staff?) Obama was also an avid Tweeter in his presidential time, but I don’t know if he was typing them up himself or letting someone else tweet on his behalf. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/2 "2019-08-08T15:05:19Z")
If I were President, I wouldn’t tweet. I sure as heck wouldn’t let someone else tweet for me, unless it was my Press Secretary, and only what I approved in advance. I don’t tweet now (and never have) so probably that skews my feelings. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/3 "2019-08-08T15:19:52Z")
Not a chance. That’s what professional staff is there for. I’d use social media, but I’d made sure it was leveraged to maximum advantage to play to the image I need built. Trump gets a lot of red meat out there to his base via Twitter - and I’m sure gets enormous gratification from it - but harms himself in the long run and makes himself less effective politically from his unforced errors. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/4 "2019-08-08T15:40:59Z")
Eh, I don’t tweet (though I do follow a few people), so I wouldn’t do it. I certainly wouldn’t do it under my personal account. I’d probably have it mainly through the white house account by staff. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/5 "2019-08-08T15:44:20Z")
I think it would be nice to see personalized Candygrams make a comeback… ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/6 "2019-08-08T15:45:39Z")
That’s what a press department is for. Tweets shouldn’t be a stream of consciousness from the president to the people. The president should certainly direct the tone of the tweets, but should leave the writing of them to staff. Even the fireside chats were carefully written and scripted. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/7 "2019-08-08T15:56:29Z")
No I would not do it myself. However what I’d do is keep a private diary of my thoughts/opinions/musings of everyday activity while I’m president. Then when I pass away my library would have approval to release it into the public domain of what it’s like to be president. Great for historical documentation without being intrusive like the LBJ/Nixon tapes are. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/8 "2019-08-08T16:15:00Z")
I’d leave most routine social media stuff to the communications team, and just let the public know that, with the occasional self-generated post for particularly important or noteworthy events (like a note of sympathy after the next mass shooting). Still, even those I would probably run past the communications team to make sure I didn’t cock something up. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/9 "2019-08-08T16:43:25Z")
I think I’d have social media accounts for “The Office of the President” or something similar, to indicate that they are the accounts of the President, as an office and as Head of State/Chief Executive, not President Bump’s accounts. I’d have the communications team find someone with specific social media experience, and put them in charge of it. I’d set the overall tone, and let the underlings work on the execution. I don’t know that I’d require sign-off on every tweet/Facebook/Instagram post, but I’d have veto rights. And if I did do a direct tweet, like carlb says, it would be vetted by the communications team, and probably by other advisors to make sure I wasn’t saying something I shouldn’t. Part of the role of the President is to be somewhat majestic and awe-inspiring, which having frequent stream-of-consciousness tweets kind of undermines. Plus, it’s not good business- it gives your enemies too many opportunities to quote you saying something out of context, or for you to say something stupid inadvertently. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/10 "2019-08-08T19:09:15Z")
No way I would tweet. First of all, it’s sort of an endorsement of a particular company when you do that which makes it a nonstarter for me. This is why you have a press office, when you want to convey things to the people you tell them what you want to say, they check it for accuracy and phrase everything professionally and make sure it conveys the message you want to send, and then you review it, approve it, and release it. Sitting on the can and tweeting out the first thing that comes to your little head, accuracy and diplomacy be damned, is childish. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/11 "2019-08-08T20:24:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **bump** : > > I think I’d have social media accounts for “The Office of the President” or something similar, to indicate that they are the accounts of the President, as an office and as Head of State/Chief Executive, not President Bump’s accounts. Expanding on that, I’d have separate accounts for the President as Head of State, and President as Head of Government. The former is for things like congratulating the Superbowl winners and expressing condolences when big-name people die. The latter is for things like grandstanding for important legislation. And both would be written by my Press Secretary, or someone under them. And if either bore my name, I’d have to see everything and approve it before it was posted. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/12 "2019-08-08T20:30:49Z")
I would be, “Living my BEST LIFE EVER!” for the Gram. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/13 "2019-08-09T00:34:59Z")
Forget about Twitter, the question I have is would you keep posting here on the SDMB :D? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/14 "2019-08-09T01:15:07Z")
I am thinking that this will work better in IMHO. Off it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/15 "2019-08-09T01:44:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > If I were President, I wouldn’t tweet. I sure as heck wouldn’t let someone else tweet for me, unless it was my Press Secretary, and only what I approved in advance. > > I don’t tweet now (and never have) so probably that skews my feelings. This is what I would say. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/16 "2019-08-09T02:29:25Z")
I don’t do much of anything online except post here so if its going to happen someone else will get the task. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/17 "2019-08-09T02:56:36Z")
im surprised someone hasn’t said " get as close to banning them as legally possible" twitter is something id of done when I was oh 15-30 years old but nowadays ehh … id just have corporate style tweets written by someone like “department x says unemployment down by 25 percent” or have them say good job when a citizen does something worth noting … ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/18 "2019-08-09T03:07:34Z")
No way. To much a chance to say what’s REALLY on your mind and I get into to much trouble for that now. If your a public figure you have to watch every word you say, every picture taken of you, everyone you look at, everything you eat, everything. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/19 "2019-08-09T05:06:38Z")
I’d have an anonymous account (no blue check) which I would use to make fun of myself under an alias. Meanwhile, the official account would probably be pretty boring, but I don’t know that it’s a good idea to outsource it. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350/20 "2019-08-09T12:25:39Z")
What I would never do is make policy announcements on social media. I’ve never tweeted so I wouldn’t, but I might have a secretary tweet from office of the president, maybe explaining reasons for policies. Oh wait, that wouldn’t work if limited to 280 characters. Maybe on Facebook where you can link to a more expansive document. Kind of a fireside chat online. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-would-you-handle-social-media-yourself-personally-tweeting-etc/838350.md?page=2)